“I’m sorry, this is so much to take in. What are lucies?”

“Elucidating hounds,” said Hunter. “They can sniff out secrets. The pirates have been using them to locate our tunnels.”

“So there are other tunnels? Where do they go?” I asked.

“Generatia, mainly. I suppose Bag Man hadn’t told you about that, either. Capital city of the Evons, on the other side of Mapless. The tunnels are trade routes for the Underground so we can travel to the city from Harken and back, undetected by pirates.”

“And now the pirates know about them.”

“They’ve only found a few. Old tunnels, all retired and sealed off. But they’re getting closer. If they found Bag Man’s hole, they’ll be back. It’s just a question of when,” said Hunter.

“So what do you need me to do?” I was beginning to feel sick to my stomach.

“Don’t go back, Ginger. You might not make it out alive. This is a brand new tunnel, not finished yet. Keep following it to Generatia and find Corkscrew. Warn him to seal it off quickly before the pirates get there!”